Monument removal bill might be dead in Louisiana Legislature

Legislation that would require a public vote to remove Confederate monuments in Louisiana appears headed for a dead end, two days after a divided state House of Representatives approved the bill.

House Bill 71 would make it more difficult for cities such as New Orleans to Confederate monuments by requiring a referendum, although Mayor Mitch Landrieu is pressing ahead with taking down the final monument -- the Robert E. Lee statue at Lee Circle -- of four the City Council declared public nuisances in late 2015.

Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, referred the bill Wednesday afternoon (May 16) to the Senate Government Affairs Committee, chaired by state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans. Alario sent a similar bill last year to the same committee, where it was never brought up for a vote.

The committee also includes New Orleans Democrats Wesley Bishop, Troy Carter and J.P. Morrell. The committee in total has five Democrats and four Republicans.

In protest of Monday's 65-31 House vote, the entire Legislative Black Caucus walked off the House floor. Several caucus members called the legislation divisive and an insult to black communities across the state.

The city has already removed the Battle of Liberty Place obelisk from the end of Iberville Street, the Jefferson Davis statue from Mid-City and the P.G.T. Beauregard monument near City Park.

Gov. John Bel Edwards has not said whether he would veto House Bill 71 if it did advance from the Legislature, but he stated that he believes Confederate monuments should be considered a local issue. The bill, which Rep. Thomas Carmody, R-Shreveport, authored, applies to all military monuments.

The Monumental Task Committee on Tuesday urged Alario to send the bill to the Senate Education Committee, noting that historic monuments are under its purview. Members of the group made their plea hours near the P.G.T. Beauregard statue, hours before it would be removed.